Week 16: What a Beautiful Mess

I have lots of crazy stories from this week! Just after I emailed last week Sister Bird and I went to our last Zone Activity together. If there is one thing that I just cannot do even a little bit, it's sports. Literally, not even a little bit! We played chair soccer, which essentially means that we each had a chair and we had to protect it from the soccer ball, the last one with their chair still untouched is the winner. So being the uncoordinated mess that I am, my chair was among the first to get out. According to the rules of this made up game you must stay with your chair, in hopes that you are able to catch the ball and get yourself back in. So I was just sitting, with no intentions of even attempting to get back in, and a very well directed soccer ball comes flying at my face going a million miles an hour. Whoops. Bloody nose and dizziness aside, I was miraculously able to work through the rest of the day.

Tuesday was transfer day, the day that I had to say good-bye to my amazing companion Sister Bird! I was literally so sad! Sister Bird is incredible, and she trained me well! She moved on to Olympia and I got Sister Webb! Sister Webb is also incredible! She went to Utah State before the Mission, Majoring in Math Education, and basically lived my life, without me ever knowing her!

Driving home from Transfers was an adventure, I had not been behind a wheel in almost four months, and that skill leaves you quicker than you would think! What made it even more adventurous was the fact that my nose began gushing blood halfway home! Unfortunately my nose was not completely fine after being pelted in the face! Never drive while your nose is bleeding; it is just a bad idea!

Sister Webb and I have been getting along fantastically! She is so kind and compassionate! We came out on the same day so we both just finished training and really have no idea what we are doing, but it's fun.

Yesterday we decided to tackle the most daunting task known to missionary-kind, cleaning out the kitchen. We had four garbage bags full of molded breads, rotten eggs and all sorts of nastiness, in addition to the five bags from the refrigerator. It was disgusting, but we can officially see the back of our pantry and we now know where all the dishes actually are! As we were taking the trash out I opened the door to the garbage compactor, which has a very sharp corner conveniently level with my head. Of course I have no idea how to judge whether or not my head will hit said corner, except stupidity in not knowing how tall I actually am... Blood should not ever come out of your head. Nope, not ever. This wound up with Sister Webb sitting queasily in a corner and me trying to figure out what to do when a cut on your head is not stitches worthy! Luckily I did not need stitches, and I am probably not concussed, but lesson learned, know how tall you actually are.

I love you all, and I hope you can laugh at my crazy life! Have a great week!

Sister Megan Monson

Week 15: When the Going Gets Tough

The tough get going!!!

Transfer calls came on Saturday and it turns out... I am staying. Sister Bird will be moving on to Olympia and my two roommates, Sister Beck and Sister Pen will be transferring away from me as well. Leaving just... me. I don't pretend to know or even have a slight fraction of a clue as to why I am staying in Lincoln.

It has been drilled into my head constantly since I got here, "Lincoln is the toughest Sisters' area in the mission." Well, to be in a tough place without completely breaking one must be tough, or "steadfast and immovable" as the scriptures put it. Welcome to the next six weeks of my life! Sister Webb (my new companion) and I will be fighting the uphill battle of the century, But who is to say that's impossible? The Lord Has some sort of plan worked out in His head, and I just can't see it!

I hope you all had a wonderful conference and paid particular attention to Elder Oaks and Elder Andersen! (AKA Just share the gospel people!)

I love you all,

Sister Megan Monson

Selfie

Crazy sisters

Pre Conference photo

The Bakers

Elders and Sisters

Week 14: Tight Like Unto a Dish

When I was in High School my family would read the Book of Mormon together before everyone left for school and work. One morning before Brayden and I headed off to school we were reading in the book of Ether, Chapter 2 verse 17

     "And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut,was tight like unto a dish."

     The phrase "tight like unto a dish" is in there four times, and appears a few times throughout the rest of the chapter as well. Brayden and I thought it was so funny and we joked about someday giving talks on being "tight like unto a dish." Well guess what one of the Talks in Sacrament meeting was about??? Being "tight like unto a dish." Of course this naturally piqued my interest, why on earth would you be talking about being tight like a dish? Brother Gold taught that it is as if God was saying "You're going to be in the water, and I am going to be directing you, and you need to be protected from the water." How true that is! We are all building our own boats, our testimonies, to withstand the crushing waters of the world. And if they are not unbreakable, the waters will start dripping in.

a dog name "Friend" followed us for 2 hours

     Being sent out on a mission is definitely like Heavenly Father taking the boat you have so carefully made and dropping it into the tumultuous waters of the world. Getting dropped into Tacoma has shaken me around, thrown me for a loop and made me a little seasick to be honest. But thank goodness for my Testimony of a living Christ, of the divine Plan of my Heavenly Father, and of the truthfulness of the Everlasting gospel. I know this is true. No matter how many Bible Bashers I meet, no matter how many people tell me I am wrong, no matter how many doors get absolutely slammed in my face, It will still be true. There is nothing that can take that truth from me, and no one who should even dare try. I know the gospel has been restored in its fullness to the earth. I know that not everyone in Tacoma will know this as firmly as I do when I leave, but it will not be because I haven't tried to tell them. my testimony is "tight like unto a dish," and it's going to stay that way.

All my love to you,

Sister Megan Monson

Birthday party for Sister Pen

Week 13:The Break In

The other day Sister Bird and I realized that we have like three closets full of odds and ends that were completely useless. So we rolled up our sleeves during our precious little free time and got to work cleaning everything out. Unfortunately we had just started making a big mess when it got time to leave for proselyting. Walking in to the mess strewn all over the apartment made it look as though there had been a minor break in. Looking at it, we got an idea. Our roommie companionship didn't know we had been cleaning, and our apartment had been orderly when they had left. So the only natural thing to do was to make the entire apartment look as if it had been looted. We knocked over chairs opened cabinets and flipped the entire apartment. Then we hid in our closet, and waited. What seemed like an excellent idea soon became very hot as we for the other sisters to get home...

Ten minutes....

Fifteen...

Thirty minutes....

Forty minutes and they finally opened the door. "what happened?" we hear as we snicker quietly... The first stop they made was the closet, Sister Pen with broom in hand. "Watch my back!" she tells Sister Beck as she flings open the closet door to find us laughing quietly. Soon we were all laughing hysterically. We had forgotten one thing, "We knew you were here because we parked right behind you!" they told us laughing. Welcome to the free time of missionaries.

     Besides that not a whole ton happened this past week. We knocked on more doors, talked to more people, and spoke and sang at Cambodian Baptism! So cool to see the gospel in different cultures, even in Washington!

    Have a great week! 

            All my love,

             Sister Monson

Seahawk sisters

Seattle Seahawks shirts

ginormous spider

storm rolling in

forest

Week 12: Improve the Shining Moments

     I have literally never heard the song that this letter is titled after, but the lyrics are nice! This week has been a little bit discouraging to be frank. We knocked into an atheist the other day that lectured us for a solid 15 minutes on why God is not real, and then we knocked into a Pentecostal who bashed us for a solid 45 minutes on why we need to start speaking in tongues to be saved (yeah that is really not true!). Bad things happen; unfortunately it is a part of life and a huge part of missionary work.

    But good things happen all the time too! Like just yesterday we knocked into a guy named Bill who owns a candy business that sells band-aid shaped chocolates, and he gave us a huge bag of chocolates because they were broken! Seriously, so nice!

     Highlight of the week is an amazing Latina woman named Letty. Letty is Roman Catholic (for now :)) and she has been talking with sister missionaries for a really, really long time. She has not progressed ever, in fact she hadn't even really gotten through the entire first lesson ever before. Generally if an investigator isn't progressing the missionaries don't keep going over, but Letty is an exception. We went over to chat and stay for 30 minutes or less, we wanted to get the first lesson in and see if she would keep a commitment. We wound up being there for 2 hours, Elder Holland once said that something everyone says will eventually lead back to the gospel, so just listen. That is so true!!! Letty has started questioning her beliefs since her church got a new pastor, and she was so devastated. Eventually I asked her, "Letty, do you even know what makes our church different from other Christian churches?" She thought for a second and replied, "No, I don't think I've ever known..." It was the perfect opening to speak about the Restoration of the Gospel. It has taken many sets of sisters, but Letty is finally ready to hear the Gospel! We talked about the Book of Mormon and helped her get the gospel Library App so she can listen to it in Spanish. We talked about Temples and how families can be together forever, Letty cried and told us that she had always wanted four children. She said that it must have been God's will that she only had 2 because Sister Bird and I have become like the completion of her family. 

     God works in mysterious ways sometimes, I can't say that I always understand it, but I know that everything happens for a reason. 

     Have a wonderful week!

      All my love,

        Sister Megan Monson